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 | Speeches | | |
Address by the President of the Republic at the ceremony on the occasion of the 750th anniversary of the Knighthood of Estonia on September 7, 200207.09.2002
Honourable Mr Chairman,
Excellencies,
Honourable Members of the Knighthood of Estonia,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
History presents itself in three basic forms. First, as a process, which cannot be repudiated. Things that have happened, choices that have been made, fights that have been fought - at a certain moment all of this becomes inevitability.
Second - since history is the history of humans, it depends on those who have written it down, on their interpretations, memories and imaginations. Every history is by the same token a human document.
And third - since history is the history of human beings, it by the same token is a history of the great and everlasting confrontation between the right and justice.
In the history of the Knighthood of Estonia - this year seeing its 750th anniversary - these fundamental qualities of history present themselves no less expressively than in the history of Estonia. For the history of Estonia is a part of the history of the Knighthood of Estonia, just like the other way round - the history of the Knighthood of Estonia is a part of the history of Estonia. To admit this fact - thus far we around here could make only during the last decade. The reason, of course, is obvious: only those people, which are really free, can look at their past sine ira et studio - without hatred, and impartially.
The genesis of the Knighthood of Estonia was connected with an eastward expansion of Europe and uniting it on religious basis western Christianity. The Knighthood of Estonia, which actually existed like a republic of nobility, was doomed to fight for their rights with methods, which apparently were, and still are, the only possible in the case of peripheral border-states. Its essence was manoeuvring between different political forces and spheres of influence.
The German knights having landed at the outset of the 13th century in Livonia, made together with missionaries and traders their way northwards and found a terra incognita there. They dedicated this country to Virgin Mary, subjugated and baptized its inhabitants. They substituted the unlimited right to private property originating in the Roman law for the local common law, on which family and community property had been based hitherto. This very unlimitedness meant that, combined with land, also its inhabitants were turned into objects of ownership. Yet, those inhabitants were the ancestors of us - the Estonians. They fought back, and the fact that they fought in an organised way points to the existence of an administrative structure - an attribute of emerging statehood. If they would have had the chance of developing their embryonic statehood further, the history at the shores of the Baltic Sea might have taken somewhat different course, but - an "if" is no argument for history.
In the history of the Knighthood of Estonia, the history of the colonies of Ancient Greek and Rome repeats itself very expressively. And just like the descendants of ancient colonies received their names from their rulers received we ours from the Knighthood of Estonia.
Hence, what unites us is - Estonia.
As said already before, history is largely a history of interpreting documents and events. It is easier to the members of the Knighthood of Estonia and their descendants on that score that the beginnings of the knighthood have been put down in writing. However, the Estonians could begin to write their history as late as in the 19th century - and it is only natural that they did it in compliance with the zeitgeist of the time. The Estonian peasant - ranking low on the social scale and without rights - got the chance of making it to a nation. And the Estophile German Balts, too, had their share in it.
For us, our nobility was the Estonian national elite. And the Estonian heritage, "Kalevipoeg" by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald and the "Three Patriotic Speeches" by Carl Robert Jakobson were the documents of this nobility. In the light of those texts, the traces of the Estonians' great history were looked for: in Liber Census Daniae, in the Livonian Chronicles by Henricus de Lettis and Balthasar Russow. Carried by the ideals of justice, the Estonians fought their way out of the shadow of history. It was another historical inevitability that they could do that only confronting both rhetorically and politically former masters. By the time of their national awakening the Estonians had adopted the European traditions in full. And now, they in turn, drew on the experience from those traditions. An independent Republic of Estonia - in the circumstances in which it was born - would not have been possible without law derived from justice. Theoretically and from the viewpoint of eternity, we certainly understand that justice is rather a strong longing, combining of which with law even can turn into new injustice. Yet, it just is the paradox of historical upheavals that the logic of choices emerges and finds its explanation only afterwards.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Taking stock of the role of the Knighthood of Estonia from Estonia's position and seen through the eyes of Estonians - I would say that it consisted in turning Estonia into a part of the Western civilization and creating the challenges for the birth of an Estonian state. The natural development of this corner here, interrupted by the conquests of the ancestors of the Germans and Danes and by the following Swedish and Russian supremacy, in the 20th century still could continue in a new path. An urge for statehood had been planted in the Estonians already in the course of their pre-history. Thus, the Knighthood of Estonia can be held for a godfather of Estonia. However, we have no reasons to deliver the materials of the stocktaking to archive. For there are values and objectives starting from which also antagonistic parties of a shared history can build up a new future. Our common future is the European Union where Estonia wants to embody a civilized nation. Yet, both in Estonia`s statehood and culture the heritage of the Knighthood of Estonia is reflected.
Therefore, let's preserve and cultivate it together! In the name of Estonia as a civilized nation!
Thank you for your attention.
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